Empower set to cool Sobha Hartland luxury real estate development: Emirates Central Cooling Systems (Empower) signed an agreement with real estate developer Sobha Realty to provide district cooling services for eight of Sobha Harland’s buildings in Dubai, it said in a disclosure (pdf) to the Dubai stock exchange. The firm will extend its distribution network to supply 17k refrigeration tons (RT) of cooling capacity from its nearby Meydan station.

The details: Empower plans to begin delivering its cooling services for two of the eight buildings this year, the statement notes. No details were given about the investment cost, or the expected operation date for the remaining buildings.

About the Meydan plant: The Meydan district cooling plant is currently operating at a capacity of 45k RT, channeling cooling services to Meydan City, according to the statement. In August 2021, Empower signed an agreement with Meydan City Corporation to acquire the plant for over USD 27 mn, and invest USD 435 mn for the construction of four new district cooling plants that provide 382k RT to 750 existing and upcoming buildings in the new city, the statement notes.

This is the second major agreement for Empower this year: Last month Empower invested USD 122 mn to provide 63k RT of cooling capacity to the Dubai Maritime City project, its first signed project after the company IPO’ed on the Dubai Financial Market in November.

The district cooling market is on the up and up: The global district cooling market was expected to rake in USD 47.64 bn by 2022 due to surging demand for DHS systems in the Middle East. The value of the MENA market is expected to reach USD 15 bn by 2027.